Disney Parks Infrastructure a Field Guide
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Disney Parks Infrastructure A Field Guide Overview The Disney parks have always had an interesting relationship to infrastructure, but who cares? If you needed to ask, then I have some bad news, because that who is you. On one level, this relationship is uncomplicated: as attendance increases, the rate of expansion quickens and theme park brands focus their investments on long-term planning, infrastructure will continue to be a major concern for anyone with an interest in the field. Looking beyond the industry, one can see that theming as a practice is not at all limited to entertainment applications. Studying parks, then, gives us a chance to observe it in one of its most concentrated forms, and can be useful in understanding how the practice mutates as it travels into other segments of society. This explanation is reasonable enough, but the scale does draw us away from our point slightly. To begin understanding how infrastructure functions in (and on, and through, and is functioned on by...) the Disney parks, we really need to start at the level of human observation. The relationships between objects, processes, systems and the people that interact with and through them are central to any understanding of how the parks operate both physically and intellectually, and can be surprisingly informative when one knows where and how to look. This guide is intended to help you do just that. While there is no single best approach, the resources offered here should provide some useful starting points for those hoping to explore the web of inputs, outputs and feedbacks that characterizes the resorts' various support systems. But before dashing into anything, of course, a bit of context is in order. For the Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products division of the Walt Disney Company, infrastructure is simultaneously a mundane requirement and an inspiration. For that reason, it possesses a kind of shifting visibility, particularly at the company's US properties. In attractions such as Spaceship Earth, the Carousel of Progress and Autopia (celebrating communication and information technology, electricity and the interstate highway network, respectively), these systems are given top billing. A less exuberant, though still overt, appreciation can be observed when considering the original design for Orlando's EPCOT Center (in which a functioning city and corporate exhibition complex were planned alongside theme parks and other tourist facilities), and the acts of municipal thaumaturgy required by the Florida resort as a whole. Of course, wherever miracles are being worked, some joyless asshole is usually lurking in the shadows waiting to analyze the situation to within inches of its life. Now, thanks to this guide, you can be that asshole. Perhaps more than any other major theme park brand, Disney takes great pains to manage the relationship between the public and the systems that support their experiences at the resorts. Knowing this, you can probably guess that most aspects of the company's physical operations are described in terms of wonder. Public discourse that concerns the resorts (news coverage, documentaries and the like) tends to follow a similar thread: an impossible idea is pursued by plucky designers and fabricators who find inspired solutions to absurd problems, then the magical experience they conjure up is handed off to a small army who keeps things running day to day. While creative problem solving and practical know-how are critical components of resort operations, and are without doubt interesting on their own terms, it is a relative rarity to hear any official representative acknowledge that these processes have a reverse direction. To that end, this guide reaches out to those who want to begin tugging at the threads that make up the infrastructural profile of the Disney parks. Of all the groups passing through the gates at the Disney resorts, this project is likely to have the greatest appeal for those whose interest goes beyond leisure (though enjoying one's time on property need not be at odds with its goals). There are no touring strategies or planning tips, and basic knowledge of both the history and operations of the resorts is assumed. As you may have noticed by now, the best way to begin developing an infrastructural understanding of the Disney parks is to put in some time on the ground. First-hand observation is indispensable to this project, and this guide is meant to direct these observations by highlighting items of low visibility (in more than one sense) and suggesting useful connections between points of interest. Each section is dedicated to a major topic, though these should not be taken as a comprehensive list. The goal of this project is to create a document capable of developing along with the parks, so periodic updates should be expected. Having said that, the sections within this guide represent topics that, at the time of writing, seemed particularly relevant. These were written following site visits (ongoing), and the materials comprising them are based on extensive personal observations made during these trips. Each section opens with a statement of introduction, which offers basic background information on the topic and identifies major concerns. This is followed by a set of analytical questions that vary in intent from basic identification and categorization (What do you see?), to human impact (How do we relate to it?), to theoretical implications (What can we learn from this?). Questions are supported with examples (things and spaces on-property that users can examine in person), and followed by readings that offer theoretical or historical insight into the topic. The guide concludes with a list of general references that offer supplemental information in a variety of formats (documentary, journalism, entertainment, etc). Whether studied beforehand or consulted on-site, this guide promotes explorations that just might serve as starting points for future research projects . or, at the very least, it gives you something interesting to think about in the standby line for Flight of Passage . Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and try not to embarrass us. Boundaries It should hopefully be obvious that Disney's resorts, along with those of every other amusement brand to date, exist within and adjacent to physical locations (although there are certainly those who would prefer to somehow escape this plane of existence). These locations are of course variously developed and inhabited, and their specific characteristics will continue to shift as time continues to make fools of us all, but it is more or less a given that a Disney resort's identity depends in no small measure on its position relative to its physical surroundings. Being the first feature that many visitors are likely to encounter when traveling to the House of Mouse, this first section is dedicated to exploring how the Walt Disney Company gets along with its neighbors. Questions What mechanism(s) does the resort use to distinguish itself from its physical surroundings? How does the resort negotiate its relationship to the surrounding area, and how does this vary based on locality? How is motion between resort areas (or between inside and outside the property) conceived of and coordinated? Gallery Figures 1-3: While examining these aerial views, pay particular attention to differences in both scale and density between the two properties, as well as the drastic change seen by the Anaheim resort between 1962 and the present. Reading Foglesong, Richard E. Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press: 2001. This work gives an account of the process by which the Orlando resort came into being, and offers some interesting perspective on the negotiations that were required at the city, county and state levels. Transportation Few would be surprised at the assertion that both animate and inanimate travelers are moving in large numbers into, out of, and through the Disney properties at any given moment. Similarly underwhelming is the revelation that transportation needs, along with the strategies developed to address them, have changed (and will continue to do so) as the resorts expand physically. Therefore, this section's emphasis is less the scale and complexity of these operations than the implications for those experiencing them. Questions What is the resort's relationship to the local/regional transportation system, and how can individual elements (modes, providers, etc) be characterized? How does transportation shape development within and beyond the resort? How is movement planned and controlled between and within resort areas, and what are the implications for both visitors and staff? Gallery Figures 3-5: Though it is difficult to do with a small image, pay close attention to the conveyance systems offered between resort areas and their implications. For example: it is not a coincidence that the Contemporary Resort (Figure 5) is among the most costly on property, and also happens to have a monorail line to the Magic Kingdom park passing through its interior. Reading Yen, A. M., SRI International, and United States. Urban Mass Transportation Administration. Assessment of the WEDway Peoplemover System at Walt Disney World : Final Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Urban Mass Transportation Administration, 1977. This is exactly what it sounds like. This very thorough report analyzes the PeopleMover (a driverless transportation system still in place in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom) with reference to every imaginable operational detail. Part of Walt Disney's mass transit fantasy, it is interesting to consider the contrast between this early conception and the system's current operations. Utilities Like other topics in this guide, the issue of utilities is often addressed by employees in solidly aesthetic terms that tend reference one of two strategies: concealment (hiding the nuts and bolts to show off the “magic”) or integration (matching the visual theme of a resort area).